Blend

One of the most relatable Post-modern poems Ive come across recently, From Michael O'Siadhail's Globe.

Blend

Beyond each heartland over millennia
exodus, migration, scattering,
eternal Jew, Chinese sojourner
Or wherever green is worn.

Remember how many thrived in Babylon,
exile and rover making good
Or darker musics of belonging
Blues, calypso, reggae.

As both before Europe's lines and maps
And in gaps and interstices then,
Even more so now that all
Our frontiers shift and leak.

Every homeland falls short of our desire.
...che retro la memoria non pio ire--
memory can't backtrack-
Dante dreams onward.

Uprootedness, estrangement, our starting again.
As in the beginning and maybe always
blends of memory, story, myth ;
cross oceans of longing.

~Michael o’ Siadhail